Author: K5ZD

2011 CQ WW CW Contest K5ZD

writeup 
                    CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW

Call: K5ZD
Operator(s): K5ZD
Station: K5ZD

Class: SOAB HP
QTH: W1
Operating Time (hrs): 45
Radios: SO2R

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Zones  Countries
------------------------------
  160:   74    15       41
   80:  564    22       79
   40: 1186    33      107
   20:  942    37      114
   15: 1080    32      111
   10: 1093    29      109
------------------------------
Total: 4939   168      561  Total Score = 10,434,906

Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club

Comments

I wrote this to someone before the contest.  “Habit says prepare like I am going to do it all. Heart says give it a good shot, but only 30 hours. Mind says to spend time with family and blow it off.”

Steak dinner before the contest.  Sat down to some amazing conditions and got sucked into the contesting vortex.  I was out of the chair for 3 times of <3 minutes each during the first 24 hours. 

My line score at the halfway point was 3007/143/454 (5.2 Meg).  Never worked 3000 QSOs in 24 hours before – ever!  NN1N had made a statement before the contest that he wanted to make 5000 QSOs because no one had ever done it before (single-op from the USA). I started to have visions of such…

Took 25 minutes off at that point to join my family for the Thanksgiving turkey we had missed preparing on Thursday.  Made me a little sleepy during the 02z and 03z hours.  I think I could have powered through the night, but decided that 3 hours of sleep would make me better prepared for the high rates during the day. Looking at the other scores, a decision I may regret…

I sat down again at 1035z on Sunday morning and only got up for 2 more periods of <3 mins until the end.  Best part of all this, did not think about work for the full 48 hours! I needed that.

Unbelievable rates. Although the rate sheet this year looks very similar to 2000 when I made 4500 QSOs from this same station.  There must be something to that 11 year sunspot thing!

Very hard to do the second radio when running as fast as possible. I really tried to work the second radio hard on Sunday.  Realized I was missing PJ2T on 10m for a mult.  Spent an hour covering the full 150 Khz of activity – twice! Still couldn’t find them (did find a lot of other mults though).  Heard them on 20m so I called and asked for their 10m frequency.  They op replied that they had shut down on 10m.  Huh?  Oh well, I tried.

Biggest challenge all weekend was people not sending their calls.  I get the temptation to just send TU when you have multiple people waiting, but there are always people waiting.  Better just to get in a groove and send your call.  Some of the worst offenders had some of the shortest calls!  (D4C, you know who you are.)  I can only think of a few times all weekend when I did the TU thing so high rates are possible while still IDing.  It was so nice to tune across someone like 8P5A and instantly know who it was.

Thanks to everyone for sharing the best weekend of fun that is possible on the radio!

Station

Radio 1 – Elecraft K3 + Alpha 76CA
Radio 2 – Yaesu FT1000D + Ameritron AL-1200

Antennas:

160m – 1/4-wave GP, shunt fed tower
80m – 4 square
40m – 40-2CD @ 110′
20m – 205CA stack at 100’/50′
15m – 155CA stack at 66’/33′
10m – 7/4/4 at 90’/60’/30′
Mults – TH7DXX @ 40′ pointed south

By Continent

          160M    80M    40M    20M    15M    10M   Total      %

    NA      37     75     92     53     44     46     347     7.0
    EU      28    457   1007    779    952    969    4192    84.9
    SA       5     12     19     32     29     37     134     2.7
    AS       1      6     42     46     32     14     141     2.9
    AF       3     10     15     21     17     16      82     1.7
    OC       0      4     11     11      6     11      43     0.9

Rates

QSO/ZN+DX by hour and band

 Hour  160M     80M     40M     20M     15M     10M    Total     Cumm    Off

0000Z  --+--   --+--  118/45    9/11    1/2    --+--  128/58    128/58  
0100Z    -       -     81/22   32/34     -       -    113/56    241/114 
0200Z   5/9      -     79/19    4/4      -       -     88/32    329/146 
0300Z  26/21   48/27    4/1     2/2      -       -     80/51    409/197 
0400Z    -    141/14     -      7/4      -       -    148/18    557/215 
0500Z  10/5    74/14     -      1/2      -       -     85/21    642/236 
0600Z   8/6    20/2    49/4     3/4      -       -     80/16    722/252 
0700Z    -      7/2   128/4      -       -       -    135/6     857/258 
0800Z   3/3    18/15   99/7    --+--   --+--   --+--  120/25    977/283 
0900Z    -      4/0    55/12    3/2      -       -     62/14   1039/297 
1000Z   5/2    10/10   13/5     3/2      -       -     31/19   1070/316 
1100Z    -       -      1/0    47/19   91/43     -    139/62   1209/378 
1200Z    -       -       -      7/5   132/10   38/23  177/38   1386/416 
1300Z    -       -       -       -     14/9   181/23  195/32   1581/448 
1400Z    -       -       -       -     10/6   178/5   188/11   1769/459 
1500Z    -       -       -       -    128/2    37/8   165/10   1934/469 
1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--  158/6    15/4   173/10   2107/479 
1700Z    -       -       -     91/7    71/0    14/9   176/16   2283/495 
1800Z    -       -       -    162/13     -     11/8   173/21   2456/516 
1900Z    -       -       -    131/4      -     21/16  152/20   2608/536 
2000Z    -       -      3/0    81/8    26/29     -    110/37   2718/573 
2100Z    -       -     77/4      -     10/6     1/2    88/12   2806/585 
2200Z    -       -    109/1     4/1      -      5/0   118/2    2924/587 
2300Z    -       -     67/1     8/5     8/4      -     83/10   3007/597 
0000Z  --+--   15/3     2/0     9/2    --+--   --+--   26/5    3033/602  25
0100Z    -     27/2    16/0     8/5      -       -     51/7    3084/609 
0200Z   6/2     2/3    27/5      -       -       -     35/10   3119/619 
0300Z   4/3    62/1      -       -       -       -     66/4    3185/623 
0400Z   2/3    57/0      -       -       -       -     59/3    3244/626 
0500Z    -     30/1    38/0     1/0      -       -     69/1    3313/627 
0600Z    -     15/1    57/0      -       -       -     72/1    3385/628 
0700Z   4/2     6/0     7/1     4/0      -       -     21/3    3406/631  23
0800Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0    3406/631  60
0900Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    3406/631  60
1000Z   1/0     5/5     1/0     7/0      -       -     14/5    3420/636  35
1100Z    -       -      2/3    87/2    10/1      -     99/6    3519/642 
1200Z    -       -       -     32/0     8/1   128/7   168/8    3687/650 
1300Z    -       -       -       -      5/2   170/4   175/6    3862/656 
1400Z    -       -       -      1/0     7/0   163/1   171/1    4033/657 
1500Z    -       -       -      4/0    55/2    66/2   125/4    4158/661 
1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--  140/3    15/7   155/10   4313/671 
1700Z    -       -       -       -    118/1    14/7   132/8    4445/679 
1800Z    -       -       -     41/0    62/5    10/4   113/9    4558/688 
1900Z    -       -       -     96/3     8/4     6/3   110/10   4668/698 
2000Z    -       -       -     42/4      -     20/5    62/9    4730/707 
2100Z    -       -     37/0    11/5     5/2      -     53/7    4783/714 
2200Z    -       -     71/2      -     13/5      -     84/7    4867/721 
2300Z    -     23/1    45/4     4/3      -       -     72/8    4939/729 

Total: 74/56 564/101 1186/140 942/151 1080/143 1093/138

Best 60 minutes was 201 QSOs.  Personal best!

Second radio QSOs – 336

6 bands: 8P5A     9A1A     C5A      C6AAW    DF0HQ    DR1A     OZ4UN    PI4DX 

 PJ4A     VP2MWG   VP5CW

5 bands: 75 stations!

2011 CQ WPX RTTY AK1W (K5ZD)

writeup

This was really fun!  Got lots of sleep and station is fully tested for ARRL CW next weekend.

CQ WW RTTY WPX Contest

Call: AK1W
Operator(s): K5ZD
Station: K5ZD
Class: SOAB HP

Operating Time (hrs): 19.6


Summary:

Band   QSOs
------------

80:     211
40:     373
20:     797
15:     506
10:       0

------------

Total: 1887  Prefixes = 744  Total Score = 4,203,600

Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club

Comments

Didn’t plan to operate very much, but once I got started it was too much fun. Pulled up the all time records for W1 and kept operating to pass the next score on the list.  Ended up with a personal high score for WPX RTTY!

Only heard one signal on 10m all weekend.  LU7HN was calling CQ, but couldn’t hear me.

15m was very good. Suprised to hear how loud the JAs were on Sunday evening!

Great to see so much activity and the level of operating keeps getting better and better.

My best rate ever.  Had 146 QSOs in 60 minutes.  Rates really went up once I got really proficient at SO2R and could run on two bands at the same time.

 

Station

Elecraft K3 + Alpha 76CA
Yaesu FT-1000D + AL-1200

80m: 4 square
40m: 40-2CD @110′
20m: 5/5 stack @ 100’/50′
15m: 5/5 stack @ 66’/33′
TH7DXX @ 40′

QSO/Pref by hour and band

Hour    80M     40M     20M     15M     10M    Total     Cumm    OffTime

0000Z  20/19   24/24   12/11   --+--   --+--   56/54     56/54
0100Z  19/17   48/37     -       -       -     67/54    123/108
0200Z   5/5    42/25     -       -       -     47/30    170/138    30
0300Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     170/138    60
0400Z  29/21   49/32     -       -       -     78/53    248/191
0500Z  21/15   58/40     -       -       -     79/55    327/246
0600Z  37/16    4/2      -       -       -     41/18    368/264    34
0700Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     368/264    60
0800Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0     368/264    60
0900Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     368/264    60
1000Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     368/264    60
1100Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     368/264    60
1200Z   3/2     7/3      -     13/8      -     23/13    391/277    38
1300Z    -       -      5/3    98/37     -    103/40    494/317
1400Z    -       -     41/23   89/35     -    130/58    624/375
1500Z    -       -     77/31   15/4      -     92/35    716/410
1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0     716/410    60
1700Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     716/410    60
1800Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0     716/410    60
1900Z    -       -     40/12   14/9      -     54/21    770/431    27
2000Z    -      1/0    79/31    7/4      -     87/35    857/466
2100Z    -     10/3    58/22     -       -     68/25    925/491
2200Z    -      7/2    69/29     -       -     76/31   1001/522     6
2300Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1001/522    60
0000Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0    1001/522    60
0100Z   6/2     8/2      -       -       -     14/4    1015/526    50
0200Z  63/16   53/14     -       -       -    116/30   1131/556
0300Z   8/3     4/1      -       -       -     12/4    1143/560    54
0400Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1143/560    60
0500Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1143/560    60
0600Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1143/560    60
0700Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1143/560    60
0800Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0    1143/560    60
0900Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1143/560    60
1000Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1143/560    60
1100Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1143/560    60
1200Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1143/560    60
1300Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1143/560    60
1400Z    -       -     55/16   24/9      -     79/25   1222/585    18
1500Z    -       -     83/26   58/9      -    141/35   1363/620
1600Z  --+--   --+--   77/20   65/16   --+--  142/36   1505/656
1700Z    -       -     51/15   36/7      -     87/22   1592/678    21
1800Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1592/678    60
1900Z    -       -     33/9    13/6      -     46/15   1638/693    24
2000Z    -       -     46/5    28/6      -     74/11   1712/704     9
2100Z    -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1712/704    60
2200Z    -       -     55/14   45/14     -    100/28   1812/732
2300Z    -     58/8    16/3     1/1      -     75/12   1887/744

Total:211/116 373/193 797/270 506/165   0/0

Stations worked on 4 bands:

4O3A     9A1A     DF5MA    DL0CS    DL3TD    F2AR     K0ALT

KF5HHD   LZ9R     M0GVZ    N8DP     OM7KW    P49X     YU8NU

Audio – CQ WW CW 2010

audio

Audio Archive – K5ZD CQ WW CW 2010

This page allows you to search the K5ZD log from CQ WW CW 2010 and play audio of the QSOs that are found.

Enter a callsign to get a list of all QSOs with that call (call must be exact match). Click on the download link to play or download the audio. Use the time settings to control how much time before and after the QSO is included.

This was an SO2R operation. The audio is the same as heard by the operator. When headphones are ‘split’, the left channel is from the left side radio and the right channel is from the right side radio.

Two files were corrupted during the recording process. No audio is available during Day 1 0000-0022z and 1320-1357z.

If you want to listen to some of the best parts, look at the log, then select a callsign and the desired amount of time to include in the file.

3830 Posting

 
                    CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW

Call: K5ZD

Class: SOAB HP
Operating Time (hrs): 42

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Zones  Countries
------------------------------
  160:  163    15       57
   80:  725    24       90
   40: 1359    35      114
   20: 1209    35      122
   15: 1077    29      106
   10:   76    16       35
------------------------------
Total: 4609   154      524  Total Score = 9,117,066

Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club

Comments:

Wow, who would have expected a score like this with the conditions predicted for the weekend?!

Had planned a casual effort, but the activity and conditions were addicting! Once I started, I just couldn’t stop operating. Luckily my family is familiar with this addiction and knew to just ignore me until the contest was over.

Highlights:

Low bands were great. Knew it was going to be good when I called Europeans on 160m and they could hear me on the first call. No QRN here in the USA or Europe really helps the scores.

Conditions on Saturday morning. I woke up around 1130z and did some low band DXing. As I was finishing on 40m I moved the second radio from 80m to 15m. Whoa! The band was filled with booming signals. My first CQ at 1156z resulted in 201 QSOs in the next 60 minutes. I completely skipped 20m for the morning.

40m on both afternoons. No matter how many times I do WWCW from here I can’t get used to going to 40m when the sun is still up. Got there at 21z on Saturday and had 4 fantastic (100+) hours in a row on the same frequency. A little earlier on Sunday and almost the same result. Thus the big 40m QSO total.

80m Saturday night. I slept for two hours between 02-04z. Worked some DX on 160m and then found 3506 available. Had 3 hours straight of great rate (until ED9M decided it was his frequency). I don’t have the loudest signal on 80m so it was really nice to get so many QSOs. Definitely helped the score.

10 meters. Worked one European. Worked ST2AR for the only zone 34 heard all weekend!

Elecraft K3. This radio has the best receiver. It would have been impossible to hear so many of the weak stations, especially on 40 and 80, without it.

Russians and Eastern Europe. Fantastic activity from this area on all bands. I love the new Russian callsigns. Some of them reminded me of prefixes from long ago. UD, UC, RJ, etc.

USA record? The old USA record was from the year 2000 (8.7M with 4484/161/531) and included 1189 QSOs on 10m! The difference this year was the balance across all bands. A rare occurence.

Lowlights:

SO2R. Had 208 second radio QSOs. Rate was so high I had almost no time to work on the second radio. 🙁

Not operating full time. Since I had not planned a serious effort, I did not do any special preparation for food or sleep. Also spent much time the first night DXing. It was only at the halfway point that I realized the score was special and I should be more serious. The second day was full attention and motivation!

People who don’t send their call enough. I think I complain about this every year.

The increase in DX Cluster (and skimmer) use keeps making it worse. Part of the challenge of single op.

Station:

Radio 1  K3 + Alpha 76Ca
Radio 2  FT1000D + Ameritron AL-1200
Tower 1
40-2CD @ 110'
205CA stack at 100'/50'
155CA stack at 66'/33'
160m Ground Plane hanging from tower

Tower 2
6-el 10m @ 90'
80m 4 square wires hanging from tower
Shunt fed for 160m

Tower 3
TH7DXX @ 40' (always pointing South)

By continent:

          160M    80M    40M    20M    15M    10M   Total      %

    EU     111    627   1190   1022    964      2    3916    85.0
    AF       4     12     20     25     18     11      90     2.0
    AS       3     15     46     66     11      0     141     3.1
    NA      41     58     65     56     38     22     280     6.1
    SA       4      7     19     32     35     41     138     3.0
    OC       0      6     19      8     11      0      44     1.0

Rates:

Hour   160M     80M     40M     20M     15M     10M    Total    Cumm    Off

0000Z  --+--   --+--   79/47   --+--   --+--   --+--   79/47     79/47  
0100Z  10/13     -     61/25    5/4      -       -     76/42    155/89  
0200Z  15/8    60/42     -       -       -       -     75/50    230/139 
0300Z    -    106/22     -      6/8      -       -    112/30    342/169 
0400Z  15/9    43/6      -      2/3      -       -     60/18    402/187  18
0500Z  50/14     -     11/6     1/2      -       -     62/22    464/209 
0600Z   1/2      -    150/10     -       -       -    151/12    615/221 
0700Z  13/6    79/4     5/1      -       -       -     97/11    712/232 
0800Z  --+--   33/15   28/5    --+--   --+--   --+--   61/20    773/252 
0900Z    -      6/5    23/8      -       -       -     29/13    802/265  37
1000Z   2/1     2/0    31/1      -       -       -     35/2     837/267  36
1100Z    -      4/3    13/6      -      8/8      -     25/17    862/284  31
1200Z    -       -       -       -    196/36     -    196/36   1058/320 
1300Z    -       -       -       -    154/5     5/8   159/13   1217/333 
1400Z    -       -       -       -    133/13    6/9   139/22   1356/355 
1500Z    -       -       -    179/44    7/0     1/1   187/45   1543/400 
1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--  172/9     4/4    --+--  176/13   1719/413 
1700Z    -       -       -    128/10   16/8      -    144/18   1863/431 
1800Z    -       -       -     37/3    15/16    8/5    60/24   1923/455  25
1900Z    -       -       -     51/24   18/13     -     69/37   1992/492 
2000Z    -       -      2/2    19/9    17/10    2/0    40/21   2032/513 
2100Z    -       -    133/2      -      1/0      -    134/2    2166/515 
2200Z    -       -    137/4     6/2      -       -    143/6    2309/521 
2300Z    -       -    104/2    18/12     -       -    122/14   2431/535 
0000Z  --+--   16/3   101/5     3/2    --+--   --+--  120/10   2551/545 
0100Z   3/3    26/1    12/0     1/1      -       -     42/5    2593/550  24
0200Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    2593/550  60
0300Z   4/3      -       -       -       -       -      4/3    2597/553  56
0400Z  28/7    51/2      -       -       -       -     79/9    2676/562 
0500Z   1/0   104/1    13/4      -       -       -    118/5    2794/567 
0600Z  17/4    93/0     2/2      -       -       -    112/6    2906/573 
0700Z   3/1    53/1    41/2      -       -       -     97/4    3003/577 
0800Z  --+--    2/2   103/0    --+--   --+--   --+--  105/2    3108/579 
0900Z   1/1     2/2    51/7      -       -       -     54/10   3162/589   3
1000Z    -      4/2      -       -       -       -      4/2    3166/591  60
1100Z    -       -     12/5    77/2     1/0      -     90/7    3256/598 
1200Z    -       -       -    170/3     6/0      -    176/3    3432/601 
1300Z    -       -       -     56/2   118/1      -    174/3    3606/604 
1400Z    -       -       -      4/0   172/7      -    176/7    3782/611 
1500Z    -       -       -      7/4   117/3     7/8   131/15   3913/626 
1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   66/4    19/13   85/17   3998/643 
1700Z    -       -       -     89/2     9/1     3/1   101/4    4099/647 
1800Z    -       -       -     84/5     2/1     8/2    94/8    4193/655 
1900Z    -       -       -     64/4     6/2    12/2    82/8    4275/663 
2000Z    -       -     57/0     8/0     2/0     5/2    72/2    4347/665  24
2100Z    -       -    125/4      -      9/3      -    134/7    4481/672 
2200Z    -       -     63/1    22/2      -       -     85/3    4566/675 
2300Z    -     41/3     2/0      -       -       -     43/3    4609/678 

Tot:  163/72 725/114 1359/149 1209/157 1077/135 76/51 

Stations worked on 6 bands: 
9L5VT  CR2X  DQ4W  P40C  PJ2T  PJ4A  VP2E/K1XM  ZF1A

Best 60 minutes: 204 (a new personal record for CW)

Thanks to everyone who make this contest so much fun!

2010 CQ WW CW Contest K5ZD

writeup 
                    CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW

Call: K5ZD
Operator(s): K5ZD
Station: K5ZD

Class: SOAB HP
QTH: W1
Operating Time (hrs): 42
Radios: SO2R

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Zones  Countries
------------------------------
  160:  163    15       57
   80:  725    24       90
   40: 1359    35      114
   20: 1209    35      122
   15: 1077    29      106
   10:   76    16       35
------------------------------
Total: 4609   154      524  Total Score = 9,117,066

Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club

Comments

Wow, who would have expected a score like this with the conditions predicted for the weekend?!

Had planned a casual effort, but the activity and conditions were addicting! Once I started, I just couldn’t stop operating.  Luckily my family is familiar with this addiction and knew to just ignore me until the contest was over.

Highlights

The low bands were great.  Knew it was going to be good when I called Europeans on 160m and they could hear me on the first call.  No QRN here in the USA or Europe really helps the scores.

Conditions on Saturday morning.  I woke up around 1130z and did some low band DXing.  As I was finishing on 40m I moved the second radio from 80m to 15m. Whoa!  The band was filled with booming signals.  My first CQ at 1156z resulted in 201 QSOs in the next 60 minutes.  I completely skipped 20m for the morning.

40m on both afternoons.  No matter how many times I do WWCW from here I can’t get used to going to 40m when the sun is still up. Got there at 21z on Saturday and had 4 fantastic (100+) hours in a row on the same frequency.  A little earlier on Sunday and almost the same result.  Thus the big 40m QSO total.

80m Saturday night. I slept for two hours between 02-04z.  Worked some DX on 160m and then found 3506 available. Had 3 hours straight of great rate (until ED9M decided it was his frequency).  I don’t have the loudest signal on 80m so it was really nice to get so many QSOs.  Definitely helped the score.

10 meters. Worked *one* European. Worked ST2AR for the only zone 34 heard all weekend!

Elecraft K3. This radio has the best receiver. It would have been impossible to hear so many of the weak stations, especially on 40 and 80, without it.

Russians and Eastern Europe. Fantastic activity from this area on all bands.  I love the new Russian callsigns.  Some of them reminded me of prefixes from long ago. UD, UC, RJ, etc.

USA record? The old USA record was from the year 2000 (8.7M with 4484/161/531) and included 1189 QSOs on 10m! The difference this year was the balance across all bands. A rare occurrence.

Lowlights

SO2R. Had 208 second radio QSOs. Rate was so high I had almost no time to work on the second radio. 🙁 

Not operating full time.  Since I had not planned a serious effort, I did not do any special preparation for food or sleep.  Also spent much time the first night DXing. It was only at the halfway point that I realized the score was special and I should be more serious.  The second day was full attention and motivation!

People who don’t send their call enough. I think I complain about this every year. The increase in DX Cluster (and skimmer) use keeps making it worse. Part of the challenge of single op.

Thanks to everyone who make this contest so much fun!

Station

Radio 1  K3 + Alpha 76CA
Radio 2  FT1000D + Ameritron AL-1200

Tower 1

40-2CD @ 110′
205CA stack at 100’/50′
155CA stack at 66’/33′
160m Ground Plane hanging from tower

Tower 2

6-el 10m @ 90′
80m 4 square wires hanging from tower
Shunt fed for 160m

Tower 3

TH7DXX @ 40′ (always pointing South)

By Continent

          160M    80M    40M    20M    15M    10M   Total      %

    EU     111    627   1190   1022    964      2    3916    85.0
    AF       4     12     20     25     18     11      90     2.0
    AS       3     15     46     66     11      0     141     3.1
    NA      41     58     65     56     38     22     280     6.1
    SA       4      7     19     32     35     41     138     3.0
    OC       0      6     19      8     11      0      44     1.0

Rates

Hour   160M     80M     40M     20M     15M     10M    Total     Cumm    Off

0000Z  --+--   --+--   79/47   --+--   --+--   --+--   79/47     79/47  
0100Z  10/13     -     61/25    5/4      -       -     76/42    155/89  
0200Z  15/8    60/42     -       -       -       -     75/50    230/139 
0300Z    -    106/22     -      6/8      -       -    112/30    342/169 
0400Z  15/9    43/6      -      2/3      -       -     60/18    402/187  18
0500Z  50/14     -     11/6     1/2      -       -     62/22    464/209 
0600Z   1/2      -    150/10     -       -       -    151/12    615/221 
0700Z  13/6    79/4     5/1      -       -       -     97/11    712/232 
0800Z  --+--   33/15   28/5    --+--   --+--   --+--   61/20    773/252 
0900Z    -      6/5    23/8      -       -       -     29/13    802/265  37
1000Z   2/1     2/0    31/1      -       -       -     35/2     837/267  36
1100Z    -      4/3    13/6      -      8/8      -     25/17    862/284  31
1200Z    -       -       -       -    196/36     -    196/36   1058/320 
1300Z    -       -       -       -    154/5     5/8   159/13   1217/333 
1400Z    -       -       -       -    133/13    6/9   139/22   1356/355 
1500Z    -       -       -    179/44    7/0     1/1   187/45   1543/400 
1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--  172/9     4/4    --+--  176/13   1719/413 
1700Z    -       -       -    128/10   16/8      -    144/18   1863/431 
1800Z    -       -       -     37/3    15/16    8/5    60/24   1923/455  25
1900Z    -       -       -     51/24   18/13     -     69/37   1992/492 
2000Z    -       -      2/2    19/9    17/10    2/0    40/21   2032/513 
2100Z    -       -    133/2      -      1/0      -    134/2    2166/515 
2200Z    -       -    137/4     6/2      -       -    143/6    2309/521 
2300Z    -       -    104/2    18/12     -       -    122/14   2431/535 
0000Z  --+--   16/3   101/5     3/2    --+--   --+--  120/10   2551/545 
0100Z   3/3    26/1    12/0     1/1      -       -     42/5    2593/550  24
0200Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    2593/550  60
0300Z   4/3      -       -       -       -       -      4/3    2597/553  56
0400Z  28/7    51/2      -       -       -       -     79/9    2676/562 
0500Z   1/0   104/1    13/4      -       -       -    118/5    2794/567 
0600Z  17/4    93/0     2/2      -       -       -    112/6    2906/573 
0700Z   3/1    53/1    41/2      -       -       -     97/4    3003/577 
0800Z  --+--    2/2   103/0    --+--   --+--   --+--  105/2    3108/579 
0900Z   1/1     2/2    51/7      -       -       -     54/10   3162/589   3
1000Z    -      4/2      -       -       -       -      4/2    3166/591  60
1100Z    -       -     12/5    77/2     1/0      -     90/7    3256/598 
1200Z    -       -       -    170/3     6/0      -    176/3    3432/601 
1300Z    -       -       -     56/2   118/1      -    174/3    3606/604 
1400Z    -       -       -      4/0   172/7      -    176/7    3782/611 
1500Z    -       -       -      7/4   117/3     7/8   131/15   3913/626 
1600Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   66/4    19/13   85/17   3998/643 
1700Z    -       -       -     89/2     9/1     3/1   101/4    4099/647 
1800Z    -       -       -     84/5     2/1     8/2    94/8    4193/655 
1900Z    -       -       -     64/4     6/2    12/2    82/8    4275/663 
2000Z    -       -     57/0     8/0     2/0     5/2    72/2    4347/665  24
2100Z    -       -    125/4      -      9/3      -    134/7    4481/672 
2200Z    -       -     63/1    22/2      -       -     85/3    4566/675 
2300Z    -     41/3     2/0      -       -       -     43/3    4609/678 

Tot:  163/72 725/114 1359/149 1209/157 1077/135 76/51

Stations worked on 6 bands:

9L5VT  CR2X  DQ4W  P40C  PJ2T  PJ4A  VP2E/K1XM  ZF1A    

Best 60 minutes: 204 (a new personal record for CW)

Audio – R34P WRTC 2010 Moscow (ops W2SC, K5ZD)

audio

Audio Archive – R34P WRTC 2010 Moscow (ops W2SC, K5ZD)

This page contains the audio files from the operation of R34P during WRTC 2010 in Moscow. Read the full story of our WRTC experience as written by W2SC.

The WRTC rules allowed the use of two interlocked stations such that only one could transmit at any time. One of the requirements for the contest was that we record all operation in stereo. Listen to the output using headphones so you can hear what is happening on each radio in a different ear. K5ZD was operating the left radio and W2SC was on the right.

View the log: R34P.log

There are two ways to listen to the audio. 1) Search for your call and download a short wav file of the QSO. 2) Download an mp3 file of a full hour.

Audio Search

Download File

The files below were recorded using WriteLog software in .wav format and then converted to mp3 format. WriteLog records the starting time of each file and that is the time shown in the table.

Note: When you click on Listen, your browser will download the entire audio file before it begins to play. This could take some time depending on your Internet connection speed. (Typical 60 minute mpeg file is 14Mb.)

File Name Starting Time QSOs
ReceivedAudio007.mp3 2010-07-10 11:59:36 163
ReceivedAudio008.mp3 2010-07-10 12:59:12 175
ReceivedAudio009.mp3 2010-07-10 13:58:48 177
ReceivedAudio010.mp3 2010-07-10 14:58:23 123
ReceivedAudio011.mp3 2010-07-10 15:57:59 194
ReceivedAudio012.mp3 2010-07-10 16:57:35 189
ReceivedAudio013.mp3 2010-07-10 17:57:11 180
ReceivedAudio014.mp3 2010-07-10 18:56:46 156
ReceivedAudio015.mp3 2010-07-10 19:56:22 173
ReceivedAudio016.mp3 2010-07-10 20:55:58 141
ReceivedAudio017.mp3 2010-07-10 21:55:34 134
ReceivedAudio018.mp3 2010-07-10 22:55:09 103
ReceivedAudio019.mp3 2010-07-10 23:54:45 118
ReceivedAudio020.mp3 2010-07-11 00:54:21 112
ReceivedAudio021.mp3 2010-07-11 01:53:57 117
ReceivedAudio022.mp3 2010-07-11 02:53:32 148
ReceivedAudio023.mp3 2010-07-11 03:53:08 119
ReceivedAudio024.mp3 2010-07-11 04:52:44 157
ReceivedAudio025.mp3 2010-07-11 05:52:20 125
ReceivedAudio026.mp3 2010-07-11 06:51:55 167
ReceivedAudio027.mp3 2010-07-11 07:51:31 176
ReceivedAudio028.mp3 2010-07-11 08:51:07 181
ReceivedAudio029.mp3 2010-07-11 09:50:42 152
ReceivedAudio030.mp3 2010-07-11 10:50:18 149
ReceivedAudio031.mp3 2010-07-11 11:49:54 32

2010 ARRL DX Contest CW K5ZD

writeup 
                    ARRL DX Contest, CW

Call: K5ZD
Operator(s): K5ZD

Class: SOAB HP
Operating Time (hrs): 32
Radios: SO2R

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Mults
-------------------
  160:  114    47
   80:  528    60
   40: 1089    85
   20: 1177    88
   15: 1055    89
   10:   38    18
-------------------
Total: 4001   387  Total Score = 4,645,161

Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club

Comments

Simply, wow.  I had forgotten how much fun good conditions can be!

My wife was traveling this weekend so I was a single parent of a 7 year old. Expected that to limit operating time so did no prep for the contest or have any plans to do more than play around. She did a great job of entertaining herself so I got to enjoy these fantastic conditions.

Spent almost all of the my operating time running.  The Europeans just kept calling and calling! 

Best hour was 199.  Think that may be a new personal best on CW.

Had exactly 2000 QSOs at the end of the first 24 hours.  Really pushed on Sunday to work 2001 QSOs on day 2!

Big surprise to find 15m wide open to Europe at 11z Sunday morning!

40 was fantastic.  At times the JAs were direct path with no flutter.  Had a number of UA9 stations call in on 15 through 80.  Amazing how low the QRN level was.  Even 160 had no static crashes.

Was very lazy on using the second radio.  As a result, my multiplier is not very good.

The more I use my Elecraft K3, the more I love it.  What a receiver!  Paid for itself many times in the crowding on 20, 40, and 80. I never thought a radio made that much difference, but it does.

Thanks for all of the QSOs.  Can’t wait to see how many records were broken this weekend. We may see 10 meters open, but we probably won’t see the low bands be this good at the same time.  But, that’s what keeps us coming back!

Stations worked on 6 bands: 6Y1LZ, EF8M, KP2M, PJ2T, PJ4X, V31TP, ZF2AM Had 31 stations on 5 bands including many Europeans.

By Continent

          160M    80M    40M    20M    15M    10M   Total      %

    EU      98    501    986   1069    959      0    3613    90.3
    NA      11     11     17     21     18     13      91     2.3
    SA       2      5     12     19     26     22      86     2.1
    AS       0      4     52     43     29      0     128     3.2
    AF       3      4     11     13     14      3      48     1.2
    OC       0      3     11     12      9      0      35     0.9

Rate Sheet

QSO/DX by hour and band

Hour    160M     80M     40M     20M     15M     10M    Total     Cumm   Off

D1-00Z  --+--   --+--  146/43   --+--   --+--   --+--  146/43    146/43  
D1-01Z    -       -     82/9    18/9      -       -    100/18    246/61  
D1-02Z    -    132/28     -      5/1      -       -    137/29    383/90  
D1-03Z  26/22   24/5    40/4      -       -       -     90/31    473/121 
D1-04Z    -       -     17/0      -       -       -     17/0     490/121  51
D1-05Z  37/12    7/1     3/0     1/1      -       -     48/14    538/135   6
D1-06Z    -    135/10     -       -       -       -    135/10    673/145 
D1-07Z   2/1    10/3   129/1      -       -       -    141/5     814/150 
D1-08Z  --+--   --+--   36/0    --+--   --+--   --+--   36/0     850/150  46
D1-09Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     850/150  60
D1-10Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     850/150  60
D1-11Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0     850/150  60
D1-12Z    -       -      7/3      -      5/5      -     12/8     862/158  48
D1-13Z    -       -       -       -    189/35     -    189/35   1051/193 
D1-14Z    -       -       -       -    170/5     3/2   173/7    1224/200 
D1-15Z    -       -       -     86/28   35/1     5/5   126/34   1350/234  12
D1-16Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--   --+--    0/0    1350/234  60
D1-17Z    -       -       -    136/8    24/0     4/2   164/10   1514/244   4
D1-18Z    -       -       -    146/8    29/17     -    175/25   1689/269 
D1-19Z    -       -       -    132/1     5/1    17/6   154/8    1843/277 
D1-20Z    -       -       -     61/4    13/6      -     74/10   1917/287  21
D1-21Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1917/287  60
D1-22Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    1917/287  60
D1-23Z    -       -     45/2    34/10    5/1      -     84/13   2001/300   7
D2-00Z   2/0    --+--   92/5     4/2    --+--   --+--   98/7    2099/307 
D2-01Z   8/3    10/0      -       -       -       -     18/3    2117/310  33
D2-02Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    2117/310  60
D2-03Z    -     53/4      -       -       -       -     53/4    2170/314  28
D2-04Z  15/2    60/3    11/3      -       -       -     86/8    2256/322 
D2-05Z  18/3    66/0     6/1      -       -       -     90/4    2346/326 
D2-06Z   6/4    23/1    63/1      -       -       -     92/6    2438/332 
D2-07Z    -      6/3   102/2      -       -       -    108/5    2546/337 
D2-08Z  --+--    1/1    59/3    --+--   --+--   --+--   60/4    2606/341  23
D2-09Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    2606/341  60
D2-10Z    -       -       -       -       -       -      0/0    2606/341  60
D2-11Z    -      1/1    12/3      -    128/5      -    141/9    2747/350   6
D2-12Z    -       -      1/0     1/0   179/4      -    181/4    2928/354 
D2-13Z    -       -       -      6/0   167/3      -    173/3    3101/357 
D2-14Z    -       -       -     59/2    70/3      -    129/5    3230/362 
D2-15Z    -       -       -    146/0     8/0      -    154/0    3384/362 
D2-16Z  --+--   --+--   --+--   41/0     3/0    --+--   44/0    3428/362  40
D2-17Z    -       -       -     79/1     4/1     5/2    88/4    3516/366  10
D2-18Z    -       -       -     86/2     7/0     4/1    97/3    3613/369 
D2-19Z    -       -       -    100/5     6/1      -    106/6    3719/375 
D2-20Z    -       -       -     20/0     5/1      -     25/1    3744/376  41
D2-21Z    -       -     60/1    11/3     3/0      -     74/4    3818/380   8
D2-22Z    -       -    139/4      -       -       -    139/4    3957/384 
D2-23Z    -       -     39/0     5/3      -       -     44/3    4001/387  30

Total: 114/47  528/60 1089/85 1177/88 1055/89   38/18

Audio – CQ WW CW 2009

audio

Audio Archive – K5ZD CQ WW CW 2009 (K5ZD op)

Call: K5ZD
Class: SOAB HP
Operating Time (hrs): 45
Radios: SO2R 

Summary (after log checking): 
 Band  QSOs  Zones  Countries
------------------------------ 
  160:   94    15       45 
   80:  479    21       88 
   40: 1215    31      114 
   20: 1444    33      117 
   15:  696    23       99 
   10:   29     9       17 
------------------------------ 
Total: 3957   132      480     Total Score = 6,845,832 

Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club
Equipment: FT-1000D + Alpha 76CA, FT-1000D + AL-1200
Antennas: 10m - 6-el @ 90', 15m - 5/5 @ 66'/33', 20m - 5/5 @ 100'/50'
40m - 2-el @ 110', 80m - 4 square, 160m - GP, shunt fed tower

View 3830 contest writeup

Links to Audio Files

Click on the Audio link to listen to 30-minute segments.  View rate sheet to find the best hours. View the log to follow what is happening in the recordings.

Note: When you click on Listen, your browser will download the entire audio file before it begins to play. This could take some time depending on your Internet connection speed. (Typical 30 minute mpeg file is 5.2Mb.)

I recommend that you listen to the audio clips using headphones.  Listening from a speaker makes it difficult to hear the calls through the QRM and to hear the SO2R headphone switching.

Time Segment Audio QSOs Comments
Day 1 – 0000Z Listen
Day 1 – 0030Z Listen
Day 1 – 0100Z Listen
Day 1 – 0130Z Listen
Day 1 – 0200Z Listen
Day 1 – 0230Z Listen
Day 1 – 0300Z Listen
Day 1 – 0330Z Listen
Day 1 – 0000Z Listen
Day 1 – 0400Z Listen
Day 1 – 0430Z Listen
Day 1 – 0500Z Listen
Day 1 – 0530Z Listen
Day 1 – 0600Z Listen
Day 1 – 0630Z Listen
Day 1 – 0700Z Listen
Day 1 – 0730Z Listen
Day 1 – 0800Z Listen
Day 1 – 0830Z Listen
Day 1 – 0900Z Listen
Day 1 – 0930Z Listen
Day 1 – 1000Z Listen
Day 1 – 1030Z Listen
Day 1 – 1100Z Listen
Day 1 – 1130Z Listen
Day 1 – 1200Z Listen
Day 1 – 1230Z Listen
Day 1 – 1300Z Listen
Day 1 – 1330Z Listen
Day 1 – 1400Z Listen
Day 1 – 1430Z Listen
Day 1 – 1500Z Listen
Day 1 – 1530Z Listen
Day 1 – 1600Z Listen
Day 1 – 1630Z Listen
Day 1 – 1700Z Listen
Day 1 – 1730Z Listen
Day 1 – 1800Z Listen
Day 1 – 1830Z Listen
Day 1 – 1900Z Listen
Day 1 – 1930Z Listen
Day 1 – 2000Z Listen
Day 1 – 2030Z Listen
Day 1 – 2100Z Listen
Day 1 – 2130Z Listen
Day 1 – 2200Z Listen
Day 1 – 2230Z Listen
Day 1 – 2300Z Listen
Day 1 – 2330Z Listen
Day 2 – 0000Z Listen
Day 2 – 0030Z Listen
Day 2 – 0100Z Listen
Day 2 – 0130Z Listen
Day 2 – 0200Z Listen
Day 2 – 0230Z Listen
Day 2 – 0300Z Listen
Day 2 – 0330Z Listen
Day 2 – 0000Z Listen
Day 2 – 0400Z Listen
Day 2 – 0430Z Listen
Day 2 – 0500Z Listen
Day 2 – 0530Z Listen
Day 2 – 0600Z Listen
Day 2 – 0630Z Listen
Day 2 – 0700Z Listen
Day 2 – 0730Z Listen
Day 2 – 0800Z Listen
Day 2 – 0830Z Listen
Day 2 – 0900Z Listen
Day 2 – 0930Z Listen
Day 2 – 1000Z Listen
Day 2 – 1030Z Listen
Day 2 – 1100Z Listen
Day 2 – 1130Z Listen
Day 2 – 1200Z Listen
Day 2 – 1230Z Listen
Day 2 – 1300Z Listen
Day 2 – 1330Z Listen
Day 2 – 1400Z Listen
Day 2 – 1430Z Listen
Day 2 – 1500Z Listen
Day 2 – 1530Z Listen
Day 2 – 1600Z Listen
Day 2 – 1630Z Listen
Day 2 – 1700Z Listen
Day 2 – 1730Z Listen
Day 2 – 1800Z Listen
Day 2 – 1830Z Listen
Day 2 – 1900Z Listen
Day 2 – 1930Z Listen
Day 2 – 2000Z Listen
Day 2 – 2030Z Listen
Day 2 – 2100Z Listen
Day 2 – 2130Z Listen
Day 2 – 2200Z Listen
Day 2 – 2230Z Listen
Day 2 – 2300Z Listen
Day 2 – 2330Z Listen

2009 CQ WW CW Contest K5ZD

writeup

K5ZD, Single Op All Band, High Power

By Randall A. Thompson, K5ZD
k5zd@contesting.com

Summary Sheet

Call: K5ZD
Operator(s): K5ZD 
Station: K5ZD

Class: SOAB HP
QTH: W1
Operating Time (hrs): 46 
Location: USA 
Radios: SO2R  

Summary:   Compare Scores
Band	QSOs	Zones	Countries
160:	94	15	45
80:	482	21	88
40:	1228	31	114
20:	1447	33	117
15:	699	23	99
10:	29	9	17
Total:	3979	132	480	Total Score	6,963,336
 

Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club

Commentary

That’s it. I am never doing 40+ hour SOAB again. Really.

A new Elecraft K3 arrived on Tuesday at 5pm. Wired it into the station, asked
friends some stupid questions, configured the settings, then left for
Thanksgiving at the inlaws. Back home 3 hours before the contest.

The K3 worked great all weekend. Incredible receiver. Actually made 40 meters
fun! Wish I had bought one of these a year ago. Now I have to figure out a way
to get a second one.

Contest was frustrating on Friday evening. It was a struggle from 02 to 06z. Normally 160m is one my strengths, but I couldn’t bust a pileup for anything. Lots of guys CQed in my face. Almost the same on 80m during this period. I thought maybe one of the vertical elements of the 80m 4 square had fallen down. As we got closer to Eu sunrise, things began to improve and almost return to normal. Still couldn’t get answers to CQs so did lots and
lots of S&P on 80 and 160 all weekend.

40m was good to Europe after their sunrise. Then was surprised to find loud signals from Europe on 20m as early as 0930z on Saturday. That’s 2 hours before our sunrise! Rate went from good to incredible once the sun came up.

15m on Sat was good, but only to Germany and south. Nothing east of there.

With the receiver of the K3, was able to get 7010 on Sat afternoon and had a
very good run.

Began to get the signs of a migraine headache around 23z. Immediately took 4
Ibuprofen and amazingly, it cleared up after an hour.

As usual, at 00z, the bands all turned to mush and there was virtually nothing
to do for the next few hours. Kept thinking I should sleep and finally took a
nap from 0425z to 0545z. Was kind of disoriented when I woke up and forgot
what contest I was in. Started working everyone (including USA stations)
thinking I was getting points. Head finally cleared after about 30 mins.

No luck with 40 at Sunrise or having 20 open early. So the 09 to 11z hours was
pretty slow. Only surprise was how loud the JAs got on 40m.

Was running on 20 when I heard 15m start to open. Was really hoping conditions
would be better than Sat to help the score. Tried a test CQ on 15m at 1230z and
immediately an S9+ RU1A called in. Wow. Finished the QSO and had 3 guys
calling. Started a great run of weak signals, but great rate. I could watch
the sunset across Europe and guys were all from right along the grayline. Very
fun.

Unfortunately, once 15m closed, 20m was less than an hour behind it. That left
the last 6 hours of the contest as a battle of wills. Everytime I would think
about quitting, I would remember K1DG was my competition and I HATE losing more
than I needed sleep. So kept pushing.

Had a great run on 40m start very early – 1940z. That helped the score a lot.

Finished the last hour scratching for QSOs on 80m. Still couldn’t get answers
to CQs, but was able to call guys. 4L0A and T70A were cool pileups to break.

Given my troubles on the low bands, I was sure that my competition surrounded
by salt water (K1DG) was surely going to beat me. What a thrill to find we are
in a virtual tie. He killed me on the low bands, but I made up for it on the
high bands. Both of us really pounded the second radio for multipliers. This
is what radio contesting is supposed to be about. Local competition – two
similar stations and guys with a lot of respect for each other. I HATE losing,
but I absolutely trust the CQ WW log checking so will be happy however it comes
out.

No big frequency fights this contest.

I like the guys that don’t send their report until you have their call. At
least you know when you get it right. I don’t like the guys who don’t correct
their call when you send it wrong.

Wish the DXpeditions would send their call more often. We aren’t all using
packet. 8P5A was great at this.

Some numbers:

QSOs By Continent

          160M    80M    40M    20M    15M    10M   Total      %

    EU      48    375   1011   1240    572      0    3246    81.6
    AF       4     12     24     27     14      0      81     2.0
    AS       0      4     29     45      5      0      83     2.1
    SA       4     12     24     44     47     17     148     3.7
    NA      35     75    128     81     52     12     383     9.6
    OC       3      4     12     10      9      0      38     1.0

QSO/ZN+DX by hour and band

Hr   160M     80M     40M     20M     15M     10M    Total     Cumm    Off

00Z  -----    1/2   101/70   -----   -----   -----  102/72    102/72  
01Z    -     14/16   88/14    9/12     -       -    111/42    213/114 
02Z    -     36/19   62/9      -       -       -     98/28    311/142 
03Z  23/25   27/9     6/2      -       -       -     56/36    367/178 
04Z  14/10   41/10     -       -       -       -     55/20    422/198 
05Z  11/8    45/3     8/4     5/7      -       -     69/22    491/220 
06Z    -     46/4    34/10     -       -       -     80/14    571/234 
07Z  11/4    47/3    12/1      -       -       -     70/8     641/242 
08Z  --+--   17/11   76/2    --+--   --+--   --+--   93/13    734/255 
09Z   2/2     7/5    59/10    8/13     -       -     76/30    810/285 
10Z    -      5/3     9/3    98/23     -       -    112/29    922/314 
11Z   2/0     1/0     2/0   137/7     4/7      -    146/14   1068/328 
12Z    -       -       -    193/10     -       -    193/10   1261/338 
13Z    -       -       -     94/3   105/25     -    199/28   1460/366 
14Z    -       -       -     83/9    42/28     -    125/37   1585/403 
15Z    -       -       -    128/3     9/6      -    137/9    1722/412 
16Z  --+--   --+--   --+--  102/6     7/6     7/10  116/22   1838/434 
17Z    -       -       -     73/6    16/7    11/7   100/20   1938/454 
18Z    -       -       -     46/2    21/13     -     67/15   2005/469 
19Z    -       -       -     51/18    3/0     4/5    58/23   2063/492 
20Z    -       -     62/0    11/5     9/3      -     82/8    2145/500 
21Z    -       -    108/3     6/6     2/0      -    116/9    2261/509 
22Z    -       -     78/3    16/4      -       -     94/7    2355/516 
23Z    -      9/3    23/0    13/2      -       -     45/5    2400/521 
00Z   6/3    22/3     4/0     1/0    --+--   --+--   33/6    2433/527   10
01Z    -       -     57/2     8/1      -       -     65/3    2498/530   13
02Z    -     15/2    54/0      -       -       -     69/2    2567/532 
03Z  10/2    11/2     4/1      -       -       -     25/5    2592/537 
04Z    -       -      8/1      -       -       -      8/1    2600/538   37
05Z    -       -      9/0      -       -       -      9/0    2609/538   49
06Z   9/3    17/1     5/0      -       -       -     31/4    2640/542 
07Z   3/2    44/0     5/0      -       -       -     52/2    2692/544 
08Z  --+--   35/4    10/3    --+--   --+--   --+--   45/7    2737/551 
09Z    -      7/1    25/1     1/1      -       -     33/3    2770/554 
10Z   2/1     2/2     6/1     8/1      -       -     18/5    2788/559 
11Z    -      3/2     3/0    76/1      -       -     82/3    2870/562 
12Z    -       -       -     65/0    86/9      -    151/9    3021/571 
13Z    -       -       -      2/0   154/5      -    156/5    3177/576 
14Z    -       -       -     10/2   110/3      -    120/5    3297/581 
15Z    -       -       -     11/1    89/5      -    100/6    3397/587 
16Z  --+--   --+--   --+--  101/3    17/1    --+--  118/4    3515/591 
17Z    -       -       -     63/1    11/3     3/2    77/6    3592/597 
18Z    -       -       -     22/3     9/0     3/1    34/4    3626/601 
19Z    -       -     31/1     1/0      -      1/1    33/2    3659/603 
20Z    -       -    113/2      -      1/1      -    114/3    3773/606 
21Z    -       -     83/0     1/0     4/0      -     88/0    3861/606 
22Z    -       -     69/2     4/0      -       -     73/2    3934/608 
23Z   1/0    30/4    14/0      -       -       -     45/4    3979/612 

Totals:
     94/60 482/109 1228/145 1447/150 699/122 29/26

Most worked countries

          160M    80M    40M    20M    15M    10M   Total
    DL       5     55    153    227    138            578
     G       3     37     53     92     59            244
    OK       4     24     77     81     32            218
     I       1     12     70     67     38            188
    UA             15     60    103      9            187
     F       5     23     48     56     35            167
    SP             18     53     55     28            154
    UR       2     11     67     62     11            153
    VE      22     42     44     34     10      1     153

Worked on 6 bands: 6Y1V, 8P5A, HC8GR, KP2M, P40W, VQ5V
Worked on 5 bands: 21 stations

Best 60 mins rate: 202 (1259-1358z on Sat)
I think that is a personal best for me on CW!

I am never doing this again. Really.

Summary of how to improve contesting

blog

Some suggestions and ideas as a result of my question about how to improve contest activity. Some were received privately.

> Articles describing the favorable experiences of new contesters might help. The place for these would be in QST or on eHam, not NCJ, and they should probably be run about twice per year. The articles should also highlight that you don’t have to be a serious entrant to have fun, since I’d bet that many folks have the impression that there’s little point in competing unless you go all out.

> Use of contest logs for award credit

> Teams comprised of some predefined number of hams (three? five?) would be allowed to pool their results on an hour-by-hour basis, with the best score for any clock hour being used toward the team score … kind of like a scramble in golf.

> The great majority of potential contesters are not new hams, they are new contesters. It might be more effective to let hams claim Rookie status who had not entered the contest within the last three years.

> More categories that allow people the chance to compete against others with same station (or avoid competing with others with bigger stations).

> Time limited categories that would allow those who don’t have the full weekend to still have a competitive experience. Suggested times were 3 hours, 6 hours, 8 hours, 12 hours, and 24 hours. Or follow German Markrothen RTTY Contest. In that one the entire contest runs 8 hours on, 8 off, 8 on, 8 off, and 8 on. So it is a 24 hour contest spread out over 40 hours with all the 24 hours of the solar day being part of the contest.

One group was in favor of a time-based category. Another group liked a “best x hours” of the full effort.

> Too much focus on winners. Make “performance results” that recognize different achievements within the contest. E.g., Who worked 5BWAC in the shortest time, Who worked most long Distance DX in the shortest time, etc. Categories would revolve around Continents, Zones, Countries, Prefixes, QSOs, All bands, Low bands, High bands, three bands, single bands QSO distance, Time.

> Define a separate category “Best of x hours.” I know a few contests already embrace this philosophy in one form or another. BARTG RTTY is one I believe. You can operate the entire event if you want or a 6-hour window and submit the abbreviated event as your entry for the contest.

> Allow the contesters to select their “best rate” from their entire > contest effort. There might be different “time categories”, i.e., 0-3 hours, 3-6 hours, etc. A contester can then compete against others who have limited time resources and gain recognition of their efforts.

> Give top 3 plaques on all mayor categories and ask for donations with log’s paypal suggested with a limit of $5 US.

> Have decent write ups… Move the detailed results entirely to the web > and have something limited for written media.

> European VHF-contesting uses the .edi-log-format which has lines for power, antenna height, height asl and antennas. So the results can easily contain those informations.
http://www.darc.de/referate/ukw-funksport/ukw/mai-2009a.txt

Randy Thompson, K5ZD

(This originally appeared on the cq-contest mailing list, June 20, 2009)

1 … 12 13 14 15 16 … 19